Ch. 4 Blue from the Riverbed
Even though he could feel unforgivingly scorching sun and the air was unbearably dry, it didn't faze him in the slightest - that was just how nature worked here. A big hand landed gently on his head and playfully tousled his hair. He leaned into the touch, feeling safe and loved.
"My son, keep the Millennium Items safe and use them to govern justly. I made a terrible mistake for which I will give my life. Don't give in to shadows; they might promise power yet they are deceitful."
Standing on the balcony he could see the whole city. Yellow sand, white stone, deep greenish-blue river. He turned around to look at the man who had called him "son", the feeling of safety gone and replaced by uneasiness. What mistake had his supposed "father" made? What shadows was he talking about? The only shadows, which he was aware of, were the dim cool ones that gave a temporary refuge from the vicious sun.
An incredibly cold skinny hand clasped around his ankle, making him jump in surprise and look down. It wasn't a hand at all; his ankle was wrapped in a black tendril that must've slithered up into the balcony. He swung his arms around to grab onto his "father", but there was no one else on the balcony. He wanted to scream for help, but no sound could escape his throat. He reached up to feel his head: a heap of soft hair; a heavy hard crown; just below had to be his eyebrows and eyes. He carefully dragged his fingers down, not wanting to poke at his eyes. His shaking fingers froze and then started to harshly scrape the spot where his eyes, nose and lips were supposed to be, however, his nails were tearing only into a smooth skin. A guttural sob rose up his throat, but yet again died down just underneath the tan skin and he felt suffocated, desperate to tear open a new mouth for himself. He pushed his nails into his flesh where he thought his mouth was supposed to be and tore and tore at it until all he knew was searing pain and sticky blood, running down his neck and chest. And the shadow tendril never stopped winding up his body until he was encased in chilling blackness.
~O~
Jounouchi woke up startled by a muffled shout. He jumped from his bed covered in sweat and frantically looked around, almost expecting to see either his father or a mummy. He honestly couldn't tell what would've been worse, on one hand he would've been beat up, on the other he probably would've been chewed on. Tough choice.
Having not found anything out of order in his room, Jounouchi slowly opened the door and peeked outside. There was no one in the short corridor (good start!), so Jounouchi quietly crept out to check his father's room, which he also found empty, and then the living room. In the living room Jounouchi saw Yami who was weirdly shaking. A bad dream? What could possibly be so scary to terrify the psycho king?
"Uhm, Yami? Ya' good, man?" Jounouchi slowly said. His good-natured conscience was telling him to check if Yami was okay, but the memory of those crazed blood-red eyes resurfaced and Jounouchi noped out. He stood still a few feet away until he could confirm Yami wasn't going berserk again.
"I'm fine," came a tired answer, although muffled behind a pair of palms.
Relaxed, Jounouchi approached Yami. Jou came to the conclusion that he wasn't the only one who had nightmares after their little field trip to the museum, as Yami also had darkened under-eyes. After the nightmare with Shadi and the mummies they did have a somewhat entertaining tour around the museum with professor Yoshimori, but they haven't learned anything new about Yami's Millennium Puzzle. The trio separated after the tour and went home to mop, each for different reasons. Jounouchi was convinced that of the three of them Yami was the least affected by the "Shadi-experience", but now it seemed like he wasn't as steel-nerved as he made himself out to be.
"Whoa dude, is that a scratch under yer' eye? Ya' shouldda put ointment on that," said Jou after noticing the small wound on Yami's face. Even a scar couldn't make Yami look less handsome, if anything, it only added to his mysteriousness.
Without saying anything Yami got up from the couch and went to the bathroom. Jounouchi could only roll his eyes in response; it looked like he was going to be late to school. Should he even go and leave his royal highness unattended to burn the damn house down? Jounouchi sighed exasperated.
"Say, Yami, do ya' wanna go to school with me? We'll be late anyway, so you'd have to hang around school for, like, only a few hours before me and Yuug' will be free."
"Sounds good," said Yami without looking back before he closed the bathroom door.
~O~
Jounouchi and Yami arrived just after the third period had ended. Jou had no idea how they could be so late after waking up well before the alarm had rung, but oh well, not like Jou cared about school that much. Having to make a living by himself Jou learned to prioritize his responsibilities and slaving away at school wasn't anywhere the top of his list.
"Hey Yuug'!" Shouted Jounouchi, noticing his colorful friend in the sea of students. Now that he thought about it, he and Yuugi must've been the most non-traditional students, Yuugi having the tri-colored hair and Jounouchi being blond.
Yuugi had been peacefully chatting away with Anzu when he heard Jou's shouts over the loud voices of other students. He immediately looked around to locate the messy blond mop. After Jou didn't show up to morning classes, Yuugi wanted to see Jounouchi to make sure he was alright; Yuugi himself hadn't gotten much sleep and suspected his friend had it even worse.
Yuugi saw Jou near the entrance, signaling him something by flailing his arms in an upwards motion, which had probably meant he wanted to go to the rooftop. Yuugi was turning to go but froze up when he noticed a certain mess of spiky hair next to Jou's blond head. Was he seeing things? Did Jou actually bring Yami to school of all places? Yuugi hastily pushed through the mass of students to the stairway with Anzu and Honda following him closely and exchanging confused looks.
Once out in the open air, Yuugi stopped to take a deep breath. From where he was standing he couldn't really see the city and so Yuugi felt as if he was put into a diorama with the grey cement roof for the bottom plane, clear blue sky for the walls and bright pastel yellow sun for the ceiling. Despite the perfectly good weather Yuugi could feel a storm brewing: as understanding as his friends were, Yuugi doubted they would listen calmly to the secrets he was about to reveal. He moved to their usual spot and waited for his friends to gather around. Anzu and Honda followed, still looking around confused, but their expressions soon changed to ones of surprise.
"Yo yo yo my friends," Jou gleefully greeted the gang, "without further ado, lemme introduce newest addition to our gang. Name's Yami. Yuug'll fill yall in."
Yuugi rolled his eyes, not that he had expected anything else. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Yami stepped up.
"I take it you are friends of Yuugi. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Yami, the pharaoh from the land you know as "Egypt"," Yami said in one breath and bowed his head slightly, never letting his royal demeanor slip.
To say Anzu and Honda were baffled was an understatement. Anzu blushed deeply, not being able to tear her eyes away from Yami's face and Honda laughed nervously.
"Yuugi, what the hell is happening?" Honda asked.
Yuugi had already made mental notes on how he was going to retell everything that happened Friday to Sunday, so he took a deep breath and began his tale.
~O~
"So you just took in a complete stranger?!" Honda was almost shouting by the time Yuugi had finished his story. "I mean, sure, I guess I could expect that from you, but Jounouchi-" he abruptly turned to Jou, "-what the hell?!"
"Ey, relax, man, I have a feelin' if Yami was bad news, he wouldda killed me in my sleep already," Jou tried his best to downplay everything in his usual careless manner.
"Dude! It's just," Honda flailed his arms, "did you even check his ID or anything?" Honda turned to Yami, but avoided looking him straight in the ominously flashing eyes. "Show me your passport or… I don't know, something! Prove you're no threat!"
"Honda, please calm down," Yuugi tried to get between Honda and Yami, but Yami pushed him aside.
"I do not have anything like that, so you will have to take my word. And Jounouchi is right, if I had any ill intentions, I would have harmed him already, together with Yuugi and his family," Yami said, his voice ice cold; Yuugi could swear he felt a sudden chill graze his skin.
Honda stepped backwards, eyes wide from fear of the hidden threat in Yami's words. Honda helplessly clung to Anzu, who hadn't said her opinion yet. "Anzu, you're always the voice of reason, please say something," Honda begged.
"I… I think Yami is alright," Anzu slowly said, not meeting Honda's eyes. Honda felt a shiver go down his spine, he couldn't believe his ears. What the hell was going on? Their completely normal and ordinary little group was being invaded by some alluring lunatic!
While Honda and Jou bickered and Yami stood aside keeping his stoic demeanor, Anzu kept on blushing and sneaking glances at Yami. Yuugi knew perfectly well what was happening and couldn't help feeling a pang of jealousy. But what did he expect? If even him, a straight (as he had always believed) guy suddenly got all blushy and fluttery in front of Yami, then of course any girl would be love-struck. Yuugi observed how Anzu's shaky fingers were grasping the hem of her skirt and eyes followed Yami's every tiny movement. Yuugi's only saving grace was that Yami hadn't shown any interest in Anzu. At least not yet.
"All of you are fucking crazy. Crazy, you hear me?!" Honda shouted and angrily stomped away just as the bell rang, signaling students to return to classrooms.
"Oh shit, I totally forgot!" Jou exclaimed and hurried after Honda, but paused to look back at Yami. "We gotta go study, so stay here and don't start anythin'," sheepishly grinned Jou and disappeared after Honda.
Yuugi sighed, threw Yami an apologetic look, grabbed Anzu's forearm and dragged her away after his friends.
Yami didn't have any choice but to stay put until Yuugi and his friends were to come back. The weather was nice and sunny, melting away the last bits of the morbid nightmare, so Yami couldn't complain about being left alone; on the contrary, he was glad he was given some free time to think through the conversation he just had with the others. Going by their reactions, was he too harsh on them? Then why had Yuugi never brought up Yami's behavior? No matter how much Yami tried to analyze Yuugi's reactions, he didn't come to any conclusions. Tired of thinking, Yami managed to preoccupy himself with walking around the rooftop and observing the city's landscape, but soon found it to be rather boring and so different from the city in his memories it was becoming painful to constantly compare the two. He decided to sit by the railing and read the text on his Duel Monsters cards again, everything from top to bottom, a to z.
Half an hour passed. A gentle refreshing breeze rustled Yami's chaotic yet uniform hairstyle. Not having found anything he might've missed, his cards were put away safely into a deck box. Yami stared at the clear blue sky, relaxed and drifting away into the world in the shreds of his memory. Was it just him, or the sky he was looking at wasn't as bright and radiant as the sky over his homeland?
"You're in my spot. Move over," an icy cold voice brought Yami's attention back.
An incredibly tall student stood in front of Yami, arms crossed on his chest, back straight and his whole demeanor tense. Yami didn't even consider complying with such rude demands; instead he leisurely scanned the man top to bottom. The youngster had short neatly styled brown hair, gorgeous ocean blue eyes and a nasty scowl. Yami stared straight into those cold eyes, savoring an exciting shiver that went through his body; the emotion was very familiar and Yami had the urge to cling to it.
"I said get out!" Barked the man.
Yami raised an eyebrow and looked around. The spot where he was sitting wasn't any different from any other place on the rooftop - there weren't any seats or chairs, nor did the roof have markings. Yami faced the fuming man without any hurry and smirked. That seemed to anger the man even more.
"You see that building?" The man gestured to a skyscraper in the distance. "That's my building and I always sit here, right in front of it."
Yami gazed at the tall glass tower with letters "KC" on it, chuckled mockingly and said in a bored tone, "I don't take orders from anyone. And you are awfully rude. May I suggest fixing that attitude of yours? Or is it in proportion with the size of that glass tower?"
The tall student's face turned snow white, then got a greenish tint and finally settled on slightly flushed cheeks, however, his eyes spoke unfathomable rage.
"How dare you? Do you know who I am?! I am the CEO of KaibaCorp, Kaiba Seto and I am the most powerful person in this city! Tell me your name and I'll have you expelled from this school by tomorrow," Kaiba growled, irritated beyond reason. He himself probably didn't know why he was so annoyed by some stranger; normally he never lost his cool around others.
"So you put yourself above others because you own one tower," Yami slowly said, eyes gleaming dangerously. He stood up, stare locked onto Kaiba's eyes. "You deserve to be punished in a shadow game."
"I don't know what game you're talking about, but I'll let you know that I am the king of games in this city! I can win at anything you throw my way," Kaiba sneered mockingly.
"You are so sure of your victory even though you know nothing about your opponent's skill. No king would be so senseless," Yami hissed. The anger slowly bubbled up within him and threatened to surface like the red sparks in the depths of his irises. "I challenge you to a game of chess."
Kaiba looked at Yami's blazing eyes but didn't even shiver; all he could think about was how stupid the guy was for challenging him to play chess. Even if there were any drooling idiots in Domino city who haven't heard about Kaiba Seto's gaming skills, for sure everyone, and he meant everyone, knew that Kaiba Seto has been a national chess champion for many years. Kaiba laughed and turned to go with a swoosh of his school jacket, not caring whether Yami would follow or not.
Once in the school's inner yard, Kaiba glanced at the youth walking beside him. Now that he had calmed down, he could examine the tan guy, and Kaiba soon noticed he wasn't wearing a uniform, also, the guy was awfully alike a certain Mutou Yuugi in Kaiba's class, only more… pleasant to look at. Having made a thorough background check into the Mutou family, Kaiba wondered if this guy could be Yuugi's half-brother; who knew what papa Mutou did while away on expeditions to Egypt.
Kaiba made his way to a table where students normally had lunch and sat on the bench. Yami sat in front of him, still glaring. Kaiba then reached into his suitcase, took out a chessboard and slammed it on the table. The chess set was in pristine condition and looked rather expensive, judging from the carefully crafted wooden figures. It was way fancier than the set Yuugi had used and the sizes of figures were made to be comfortable to play compared to the small cheap plastic ones in Yuugi's set. Yami gracefully picked up with two fingers a king figure and frowned, wishing he could play with Yuugi instead of that rude Kaiba. Even the chess pieces felt cold and revolting and Yami glumly remembered the cozy warmth of Yuugi's game shop.
Kaiba gave Yami a nasty smirk and moved his white pawn forward. He had a clear game plan in his mind and was simply waiting for Yami to make whatever pathetic noob moves he could before the game came to an inevitable end. Yami also moved a pawn.
After a few turns Kaiba realized that Yami was moving his pieces in a rather chaotic pattern. Kaiba scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"I doubt you have ever heard of openers in chess, but since I feel charitable, I'll let you know I'm going for a "Queen's Gambit"," Kaiba said mockingly.
Yami didn't react to Kaiba's words in any way. The CEO's snarky expression morphed into a nasty scowl. How dare that brat ignore him?! However, Yami actually couldn't hear a single thing as he was preoccupied with following the game and fighting magic's influence simultaneously. By the time Kaiba was done with his opener, the invisible tendrils of shadow magic had wrapped around Yami's heart and his mind was mostly hazy with uncontrollable impulses of electrifying power. Having put all his efforts into his inner battle, Yami didn't notice how his queen piece got cornered and taken out.
"Heh, so much for your threats," Kaiba laughed coldly, his small smile never reaching his eyes; they were still as icy as ever. "At least try to put up a fight!"
Yami slowly lifted his head and involuntarily met the deep blue. A cold current washed over his mind. Where has he heard that same heartless, although dear to him, laugh? With a last strong push against the shadows overlapping his mind, Yami managed to stabilize the magical flow in his veins; now he felt more in control of the situation. He looked back down at the board, rapidly calculating his possible moves.
Slowly but surely Yami built up pressure, Kaiba was losing his pieces left and right. With every move Kaiba's mood was becoming more and more foul, causing him to carelessly sacrifice a rook and a tower.
"You should take better care of your pieces, Seto," said Yami, almost back to his usual self, except for the few stray red sparks emitting from his irises.
"And you should shut up," Kaiba retorted with a hiss. Even if he felt threatened to lose the game, he didn't let it show; he still sat with his back straight, arms tightly crossed on his chest and an unpleasant scowl twisting his features.
A bell rang throughout the school. Slowly, students filled the halls with clamor and some murmurs seeped outside into the inner yard, but the noise didn't reach the two teens glaring daggers at each other over the chess board. Someone poked their head through the window facing the yard and shouted for their classmates to come see the unbelievable sight. The student was soon joined by their friends and the news of the mighty Kaiba himself playing chess (of all games!) against an unknown exotic guy spread quickly from class to class. In a matter of minutes the rumors reached Yuugi's class.
"Have you heard? Right now Kaiba is playing chess against some foreign exchange student. I bet he's a pro," a male student spoke.
"I know! All the girls from class B who saw him said he's really good looking," a female student excitedly replied.
Yuugi was still gathering his things from his desk and was distantly listening to Jou. His friends, who were gathered around, were bickering loudly; Honda refused to believe Jou's story about mummies and labyrinths while Jou was getting angrier by the second.
"Tsk, girls here are so vain," sighed Anzu.
"Huh?" Yuugi couldn't connect Anzu's comment with the fight Jou and Honda were having.
"I'm talking about the hottest rumor right now. Apparently that jerk Kaiba is playing with some hot…-" Anzu stilled, mouth still open, "-don't tell me…"
Yuugi stared at her until his confusion slowly morphed into horror. With a pale face he got in between Jou and Honda, interrupting their heated argument and hurriedly said, "We have to go! Right now!"
By the time Yuugi's gang got outside, Yami and Kaiba were surrounded by gawking students, although neither noticed the attention and shouts they were getting from the crowd. On Yami's side of the board the black king and a few pawns were huddled together, while Kaiba's white pieces were dominating most of the board. Kaiba sneered and faced Yami to throw yet another snide remark, but the words got caught in his throat; Yami had that expression on his face again. Normally Kaiba could see through people effortlessly, but his opponent wore such a peculiar expression, Kaiba couldn't figure out what exactly it was. Longing? Nostalgia? Loneliness? Immeasurable sadness? Deep violet eyes looked into cold blue ones and the emotion was gone in an instant, replaced by blazing ferociousness.
When Yami felt Seto's intrusive stare, he cringed mentally. His instincts, or rather, the magic flowing through his veins, were telling him to end Seto, but a clear part of his mind was fighting the magic's manipulation. Yami, in his hazed state, was slowly coming to realize that he didn't want to harm Seto. And since when did he start to refer to the rude bastard by name alone?
Yuugi and his friends were watching the game unfold, feeling a mixture of astonishment and foreboding. Yuugi was sure of Yami's victory, but what would it bring? Would Kaiba go mad like Ushio or would he be spared like Shadi? Of course, Yuugi didn't want Kaiba to get hurt, which was what any righteous person would wish for, right? No matter what the deepest part of Yuugi's soul was whispering, he had to try and understand Kaiba's perspective! Wait a second, what perspective? That he was a heartless thief and put his wants above other people's feelings? That he was a power hungry CEO and trampled on others for satisfaction? Kaiba should get punished in this shadow game and be humiliated in front of all students. Lose, lose, lose!
A shout and a mass of loud murmurs shook Yuugi out of his thoughts. He refocused his sight on the two men huddled over the chessboard across from each other. On the board a lone black queen roamed, reaping every white figure that stood in its path. Yami managed to keep his king safe and turned one pawn into the queen while Kaiba was losing pieces every minute until a white king with three other cornered pieces were all that was left.
"Checkmate," Yami quietly said, his royal demeanor completely worn off, replaced by tiredness. Yami glanced at Kaiba, who sat frozen in place. Wine purple met ocean blue. Yami realized he wouldn't be able to stop the magic completely for all of the game he managed to quell it only partially. How fascinating, Yami thought, his gaze still captured by the azure, feeling as if he had dived into water and sank to the riverbed into the embrace of Seto's icy blue soul.
Kaiba almost physically felt something inside his body crack. He sat still without showing any emotions, sight still captured by the faint red glow of his opponent's eyes. When the mesmerizing irises hid momentarily behind the kohl-lined eyelids, Kaiba strained all his willpower and stood up abruptly. He walked away without picking up his chess or his briefcase. All he cared about was getting home, where his little brother would definitely help him come to his senses.
Seeing the match wrap up Jounouchi reacted as fast as possible; there was no way to predict how other students would react to Yami and if anyone started asking questions, they all would get in trouble for bringing an outsider to school, not to mention Yami's lack of any identification documents. Jou pushed through the crowd of now loudly clamoring teens, grabbed Yami by his forearm and dragged him away. Since Yami was still shaking off the last bits of magic, he didn't protest and let himself be led away from prying eyes.
~O~
So chillingly blue, yet hiding an unyielding spirit, Yami thought, still shaken after the encounter with Kaiba. He couldn't quell an eerie premonition, rising from his subconscious, which was whispering to him that he had met Seto before and was bound to meet him again.
"'Ey, Yami, ya' with us, buddy?" Jounouchi asked. The distant look in Yami's eyes was deeply unsettling. Who knew if he was back to normal or still out for blood.
Abruptly brought back to reality, Yami peered at his surroundings. He somehow ended up being dragged to a funny smelling building where people were sitting at small tables and eating similar food to what Jounouchi has been making for both of them at home, just… round? Yami decided it was a tavern specializing in round sandwiches and he again inhaled that foreign smell which made him scrunch his nose. Unbeknownst to him, Yuugi had been closely watching Yami and, seeing his frown, giggled a little because Yami resembled a bleary rabbit.
The gang made their way to an empty table, tucked away in a corner of the burger restaurant and sat there, some sighing in relief, some holding up their breath expectantly.
"So," Jounouchi began. Damn it, why did he have to be a therapist to his royal damn highness yet again?! "Wanna talk 'bout what happened there?"
Yami uncomfortably fidgeted in his seat. He leaned into a corner between the wall (first having discreetly made sure it was clean of that disgusting grease covering the tables) and his seat, with his arms crossed defensively. On his left sat blushing Anzu who peeked at him from time to time; in front of him was Yuugi, eyes soft but determined; next to Yuugi Honda sat, visibly fuming; Jou made himself comfortable at the end of the table and was trying to look as innocent and nonchalant as possible. Never wanna step on a king's foot, 'ya know?
"Nothing worthy of my words," Yami said with an undertone of annoyance. To anyone hearing this it might have seemed that Yami was still upset with Kaiba, but in truth, he was not. The forced irritation was to mask the confusion and storm of emotions which the game against Kaiba had brought to the surface.
Jounouchi sighed (he had been doing that an awful lot lately!) and spoke, choosing his words carefully.
"Ya' shouldn't have picked a fight with that bastard Kaiba,-" Jou flinched under Yami's intense gaze, "-now, I'm not saying ya' can't play games, by all means, ya' can go off playing chess left and right, it's just, I don't know, maybe don't do that magic shit anymore? And don't pick fights with the wrong people?"
A waitress approached their table to take their orders, so Yami only emitted an 'hmph' sound and turned his gaze away to glare intently at the nauseatingly bright yellow wall. Jounouchi listed some meal combo names to the waitress. No one had the energy to look at each other.
"To be honest, Kaiba deserved it," Yuugi quietly whispered.
The remark brought the mood down even more. Yuugi felt the subtle change in the atmosphere and cringed. It was so like him to ruin things even further. And all because he was a stupid, naive child. Why did he have the dumb tendency to bring games to school? If he hadn't brought Duel Monster cards, Kaiba wouldn't have noticed Yuugi at all and would have never thought of looking for rare cards at Kame game store. And why was Kaiba even attending the school? It wasn't as if a multi-billionaire CEO needed a high school diploma. But of course the world was against Yuugi and Kaiba just had to come and see grandpa's Blue Eyes White Dragon card, one of the rarest cards in the world (to tell the truth, it wouldn't have been this rare but due to Kaiba's efforts and association with the game's creator there were only three copies of Blue Eyes left). And then Yuugi was moron enough to bring the card to school! Where Kaiba effortlessly stole it! Then Yuugi embarrassingly failed to win it back. The whole ordeal made Yuugi feel so incredibly guilty, he couldn't sleep for days. So of course he thought Kaiba deserved at least some kind of a punishment.
Someone's fingertips were gently brushing against Yuugi's clenched fists, placed on a worn laminated menu. He lifted his head to see Yami's concerned expression. Already used to Yami's random soft touches, Yuugi didn't over think the shown affection, but unbeknownst to him, everyone else at the table exchanged bewildered looks, with Anzu and Honda unable to hide their shock.
"Yuugi, are you alright? I was asking what you meant by that. Did Seto,-" Yami bit his tongue and fixed himself, "-Kaiba harm you?"
"It's… a long story," whispered Yuugi, casting his watery eyes downwards.
A/N: Kaiba finally appears! Although I have mentioned in tags/summary of Kaiba being OOC, I have realized while writing this that my version of Kaiba is eerily close to the Kaiba in season 0 and priest Seto in the Millennium World manga, so he's not that OOC?
P. S. I noticed this fanfic got a few favorites/follows and even a comment on Ao3. A huge thank you to everyone reading this fic!